Ijzer Mendenhoft
The last remaining official heir of the Mendenhoft, she serves as the Lady of Varenhoft, a large island to the south of hillsbrad, and an ancient March of Lordaeron. Being more to the more militant side of the Mendenhoft family she was trained in the arts of war from an early age, and is adept in close-quarters-combat with spears, and swords. Ijzer was one of the surviving Mendenhoft heirs that fled from Varenhoft during its fall to the undead, she was among the first group of the family, alongside Gunther Mendenhoft to try and take back the fortress after the end of the Third War. Ijzer was the mastermind behind the purge of the last remaining heirs of the Mendenhoft family so that she could secure power over the March. Appearance Ijzer is always encased in a thick set of near ancient plate armour, the armour is horribly battleworn, dents and scratches adorn the metal like water in the sea. The set bears the symbols of her once noble family on the clasps of her cloak. Ijzer like many of those that live on Varenhoft always has her face wrapped in a bandanna to deal with the heavy mists that cover the island. Ijzer is always equip with a set of blades on her back or a spear, almost never going unarmed at anytime, unless required. Personality Ijzer Mendenhoft is well known among the people of Varenhoft for being brutal, vindictive, deceitful and selfish, as well as being very cautious in her actions. Due to her tendency to rather lead from the front than the back she is also viewed as somewhat valorous in combat. History Ijzer was one of the youngest heirs to survive the fall of the March when it was overrun with undead, she also one of the first to rally alongside her brother Gunther to take back the Fortress from the undead. From birth Ijzer had a hard upbringing, due to being born into the side of the family that valued nothing but warfare and combat rather then politics and courtship. On this side of the family all girls and boys were raised the same way. By forcing them to fight day in, and day out with each other once they were of appropriate age. Ijzer was drawn to spears and swords, and quickly trained to stay as an equal among her brothers and sisters, though she was viewed as the weakest among them. She was known for constantly attacking girls from the other branches of the family, because she though that they were wasting their time by not training in combat. At the age of sixteen she was well regarded as one of the worse fighters among her branch of the family, nearly losing against all the other members in her grouping, but she had shown a talent in Nature Magic which allowed her to keep her position in the family and not be left to the wayside. It was at this time that the March came under attack from the inside. The undead plague had begun to show itself and was quickly overwhelming the remaining household guards that were left. Ijzer was one of the first of her family to flee the castle, while all others from her branch stayed to try and save the current family head, Brathor Mendenhoft, Ijzer headed to the coastal fishing hovel and commandeered a vessel to head to the mainland with. She spent six years of her time in the wetlands training with her weapons of choice, the spear and sword, as well as attempting to hone her skills in magic which manifested in a mist like form. When news came to her that one of the other heirs of the family, Gunther Mendenhoft, had begun to assemble a force to take back Varenhoft, she quickly travelled to meet him. Ijzer shortly began to grow a disdain for Gunther though, as he was a commander that would order the his "Troop" of sell-swords around from the back without really helping, relying on the veteran members of the groups to work out the best plan. During this time she trained heavily with members of the mercenaries, as many of them had once served as soldiers in the Third War, and no longer had a home left to return to. When the time finally came. It was Ijzer and the sell-swords that were the first to come ashore on the island, it was not until all the undead were wiped out that Gunther set foot on Varenhoft. After the island had been "Reclaimed by Gunther" the rest of the Mendenhoft family was called to return to the march. Many of the sell-swords that had helped take back Varenhoft were welcomed as soldiers by Ijzer, to serve the household, this action placed much of the island's security under her total control beneath the nose of the other members of the house. When the family had finally gathered, instead of starting to rebuild, the first thing that occurred was a fight for succession to see who was worthy to be the head of the house, of course Gunther demanded that it was him, as he had "single handily" taken back the island by his own might. Ijzer attended few of these meetings as she had already taken the time to hire builders and masons to come repair the dilapidated fort, because of the constant tensions and infighting, no one was paying attention to who was being brought to the island. This allowed Ijzer to sneak in a group of former bandits with the promise of gold, and riches. During the ninety-eighth meeting of the heirs Ijzer sprung her plan. Her bandits were able to slip past the guards because she had them set to switch watches at the time, something no one questioned as she already controlled most of the solider in the household. The hired thugs rushed the chambers cutting down the other six heirs of the family with the help of Ijzer, but when they turned to her to get their reward, they were shocked to find that she had turned her blade on them. Before they could understand what was happening the guards that has just arrived at their posts burst into the room, all they saw was Ijzer surrounded by the dead heirs to the family, fighting off what appeared to be a group of assassins. The confused and shocked brigands were quickly cut down to the last before they could reveal the truth. Leaving Ijzer as the solo remaining heir of the Mendenhoft family. She quickly took full control of all other members of the household with little resistance, and pledged the island's loyalty to Stormwind, in the hopes that she would be able to restore her family name down the road. Abilities Ijzer is well trained in armed combat, and duels. She is able to cast mist based magics to heal her allies, and harm her foes. Varenhoft rumours claim that she is the one creating the mists around the island. Ijzer, like many of the family heads before has a great mind for tactical engagements, and warfare. Family Though there are no remaining "Heirs" there are still many remaining members of the family, including guards, servants and others that returned to the island and did not take part in the power struggle. Category:Characters Category:Human Category:Kingdom of Stormwind Category:Stormwindian